Documentaries that made a difference

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

CNN.com has a list of 10 documentaries that made a difference.
How many of the ten have you seen.
Me? 1 Ken Burns Civil War.
I have seen parts of two or three others ...
I would have left Fahrenheit 9/11 off in favor of Burns' Baseball.
No Faces of Death?


10. Triumph of the Will (1935 Nazi propoganda film)
9. Let There Be Light (a post WWII documentary that introduced thwe world to shell shock and psychotherapy, doen by John Huston
8. Night and Fog (A revealing first look at the Holocaust
7. Titicut Follies (a look at 1960s mental hospital practices)
6. Gimme Shelter (look at the end of the 60s and death of a kid at a Rolling Stones concert by a Hells Angel acting as a security guard
5. Hearts and Minds (candid look at the Vietnam War)
4. The Thin Blue Line (1988 film that helped free a man wrongly imprisoned on death row)
3. Civil War (Ken Burns)
2. War Room (a look at James Carville and the spin mavens of recent presidential elections)
1. Fahrenheit 9/11

 

[alleyallen]

Deep Throat.

 

[Mmac]

I hope Sicko is as good as the early buzz indicates and vaults to the top of that list. Health Insurance companies suck, any change to that industry would be a good one.

 

[statrat]

Only reason Fahrenheit 9/11 is on this list is because of Moore's movie. No matter your political leanings, how much difference did the movie really make? Bowling for Columbine or Roger and Me belong on the list before that film. Moore believed it would lose Bush the '04 election. Didn't happen.

 

[Beef03]

Just out of curiosity, how did something like Ken Burns' documentry on the Civil War make a difference? Wasn't it already over for like 150 years before Burns made his documentry? I could see if it was something on the War on terror that turned things around or someting, but I just don't understand that one.

 

[Mmac]

Only reason Fahrenheit 9/11 is on this list is because of Moore's movie. No matter your political leanings, how much difference did the movie really make? Bowling for Columbine or Roger and Me belong on the list before that film. Moore believed it would lose Bush the '04 election. Didn't happen.

But it sure should have. I thought the most revealing docu I've seen on the Iraq mess is "Iraq For Sale" which focused on the vested interests and war profiteering by Halliburton and related companies. Check it out if you haven't seen it and don't mind feeling your blood boil.

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

Burns' documentary is largely responsible for an explosion of popular interest in the Civil War. People were already interested, of course, but the documentary changed Shelby Foote, for example, from reasonably well-known historian into huge top-selling author.

It's hard to believe anybody could think Fahrenheit 9/11 made any difference, though.

 

[writing irish]

I hope Sicko is as good as the early buzz indicates and vaults to the top of that list. Health Insurance companies suck, any change to that industry would be a good one.

I liked it much better than I've liked any previous Michael Moore offering. I'm not a fan of Moore, despite the fact that I'm in general agreement with his politics. Sicko had some of the gimmicky, manipulative elements that make me cool to his stuff. But overall, it was entertaining and informative and I hope lots of people watch it.

I also find it hard to understand why people think Fahrenheit 9/11 was a difference-maker. I hope Sicko becomes a difference-maker, but I doubt it.

 

[Dyno]

How about Barbara Kopple's Harlan County USA? I feel like that mut have made some kind of a difference

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

Harlan County USA is missing...The Corporation, Super Size Me also deserve consideration.

Triumph of the Will, I would remove. How the hell did that make a difference?

Let There Be Light sounds like it would be a good film to watch, but the problem is you can't.

Titicut Follies is also a rare film, but I was woefully underwhelmed by it.

The last half of Gimmie Shelter is great, the rest....not so much.

Hearts and Minds is numero uno in my opinion.

 

[Lugnuts]

I think An Inconvenient Truth has had a bigger impact than War Room or Fahrenheit 9/11.

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

Triumph of the Will, I would remove. How the hell did that make a difference?

These guys were probably pretty impressed...

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

I think An Inconvenient Truth has had a bigger impact than War Room or Fahrenheit 9/11.

VERY good call. National Review, of all publications, had a "Global Warming is Happening" cover in its most recent issue. I doubt that happens without Gore's movie.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I think these people are trying to sugarcoat with the title of the list, when they really mean "best documentaries of all time." That's how Triumph and Civil War make the list. If they truly mean "best," then Hoop Dreams should be on there, no?

 

[Lugnuts]

Right, dools. They must have meant best. Good call.

 

[Mmac]

I think An Inconvenient Truth has had a bigger impact than War Room or Fahrenheit 9/11.

Damn good point. How did IT not make the list?

 

[JR]

I would add: "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room".

I'd also add the fabulous "The Sorrow and the Pity",

Whatever you think of Fahrenheit 9/11, it suddenly made docs very trendy

And as far as TV docs go, there isn't anybody who does it better than CBC and the #1 guy as far as I'm concerned is Linden MacIntyre who I elevated to God status when he humiliated Anne Coulter in an interview. And he smiled the whole time.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I bet An Inconvenient Triumph of the Will would be an awesome mashup.

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

It hardly takes a deity to make Ann Coulter look bad.

Hell, Ann Coulter does it all the time.

And Fahrenheit 9/11 made documentaries "trendy?" Really? More than Supersize Me or Fast Food Nation or Bowling for Columbine or Roger and Me or An Inconvenient Truth?

And really, how trendy are documentaries?

 

[Mayfly]

Supersize Me